Cola protests in Kerala increase

After Plachimada and Kuttiyadi, yet another village in Kerala has declared itself cola-free!

Coca-cola had a lot of trouble with its plant in Plachimada, and with just reason. They had drawn all the water from the ground that crops were not growing the fields around and farmers were going hungry! Coke and Pepsi have had protests from farmers and villagers for similar reasons elsewhere in India too.

So in essence, it has come to ruin farmers’ lives if you drink Coke or Pepsi in India. I would certainly recommend coconut juice, sugarcane juice or any of the plenty of healthy fruit juices that we get on our streets – at least we can drink them guilt-free!

Here’s a small excerpt from the news item:

The Solidarity Youth Movement, a pro-Jamaat-e-Islami organisation, is running the anti-cola campaign elsewhere in the state. It has a strong presence in Perumathura, which comprises 3,000 families, 99 per cent of them Muslims.

The Solidarity Youth Movement’s “anti-imperialist and anti-globalisation war” has the support of other organisation heads too, like the Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation leader T. Peter and Congress district committee treasurer M.A. Latheef.

Beverage industry sources, however, said the attempt to block colas from being sold in these places would not have any impact on sales in Kerala, which already has the lowest per capita consumption in the country. The average per capita consumption in the state is roughly three drinks (600 ml) whereas in Delhi it is 55 drinks. “What dent can it make on cola sales in 2 sq km in a coastal hamlet where most people anyhow do not drink colas?” a top industry source asked.

But Ajayan, who is the anti-cola campaign leader, said the fight was symbolic. “We are not bothered, for now, how much less cola is sold across the state as a result of the campaign. It proclaims a growing anti-imperialist trend in Kerala.”

Though it seems that Kerala has the lowest per capita consumption of cola, as Vijayan says, the fight is truly symbolic. I beg to differ with their reason of anti-globalization though! I agree with the protest for harming farmers’ interests. It would be really worthwhile if the Govt. passed an order to the effect that any water used in producing cola drinks should necessarily come from desalinated sea water – what do you say?

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2 Comments on “Cola protests in Kerala increase”

  • swatii wrote on 27 November, 2005, 13:29

    WAKE UP INDIANS
    Not only Coke/ Pepsi harm our bodies and our neuro system due to their acidic content, they are killing many communities in India completely. In an experiment that we conducted, we found that coke acts as a very good toilet cleaner and can dissolve a tooth completely when soaked in it for long hours. Here is an excerpt from a website which should be enough to open your eyes….

    Communities across India are under assault from Coca-Cola practices in the country. A pattern
    has emerged as a result of Coca-Cola’s bottling operations in India. Communities across India living around Coca-Cola’s bottling plants are experiencing
    severe water shortages, directly as a result of Coca-Cola’s massive extraction of water
    from the common groundwater resource. The wells have run dry and the hand water
    pumps do not work any more. Studies, including one by the Central Ground Water Board
    in India, have confirmed the significant depletion of the water table.When the water is extracted from the common groundwater resource by digging deeper,
    the water smells and tastes strange. Coca-Cola has been indiscriminately discharging its
    waste water into the fields around its plant and sometimes into rivers, including the
    Ganges, in the area. The result has been that the groundwater has been polluted as well as
    the soil. Public health authorities have posted signs around wells and hand pumps
    advising the community that the water is unfit for human consumption.In two communities, Plachimada and Mehdiganj, Coca-Cola was distributing its solid
    waste to farmers in the area as “fertilizer”. Tests conducted by the BBC found cadmium
    and lead in the waste, (which are carceogenic and extremely harmful) effectively making the waste toxic waste. Coca-Cola stopped the
    practice of distributing its toxic waste only when ordered to do so by the state
    government.Tests conducted by a variety of agencies, including the government of India, confirmed
    that Coca-Cola products contained high levels of pesticides, and as a result, the
    Parliament of India has banned the sale of Coca-Cola in its cafeteria. However, Coca-
    Cola not only continues to sell drinks laced with poisons in India (that could never be
    sold in the US and EU), it is also introducing new products in the Indian market. And as
    if selling drinks with DDT and other pesticides to Indians was not enough, one of Coca-
    Cola’s latest bottling facilities to open in India, in Ballia, is located in an area with a
    severe contamination of arsenic in its groundwater.

    Destroying Lives, Livelihoods and Communities

    Water shortages, pollution of groundwater and soil, exposure to toxic waste and pesticides is
    having impacts of massive proportions in India. In a country where over 70% of the population
    makes a living related to agriculture, stealing the water and poisoning the water and soil is a sure
    recipe for disaster. Thousands of farmers in India have been affected by Coca-Cola’s practices,
    and Coca-Cola is guilty of destroying the livelihoods of thousands of people in India.
    Unfortunately, we do not even know the extent of the damage as a result from exposure to the
    toxic waste and pesticides as these are long term problems. Most affected are the marginalized
    communities such as the Adivasis (Indigenous People’s) and Dalits (formerly untouchables), as
    well as the low-income communities, landless agricultural workers and women.

    The Struggles

    The arrogance of Coca-Cola in India is not going unanswered. In fact, the growing opposition to
    Coca-Cola- primarily from Coca-Cola affected communities- has spread so rapidly and gained so
    much strength that Coca-Cola is now on the defensive.

    Kala Dera, Rajasthan

    In the state of Rajasthan, the High Court ruled in November 2004 that all soft drinks in the state
    must state the level of pesticides on the product label, in addition to the ingredients. Thisunprecedented ruling came only three weeks after a 2,000 strong demonstration to shut down the
    Coca-Cola bottling plant in Kala Dera, on the outskirts of Jaipur in Rajasthan. Over 50 villages
    are experiencing water shortages as a result of Coca-Cola’s indiscriminate mining of water, and
    “struggle committees” have been formed in at least 32 villages to confront Coca-Cola’s abuses.
    The Central Ground Water Board, a government agency, not only confirmed the declining water
    table as a result of Coca-Cola’s indiscriminate mining of the water, it also faulted Coca-Cola for
    creating “ecological imbalances” in the area.
    In response to the court order to state the level of pesticides on their labels, Coca-Cola appealed
    the decision on the grounds that such an action would force them to compromise with their
    “commercial confidentiality”! Coca-Cola also submitted to the court that small traces of DDT and
    other pesticides are not harmful “to the health of the consumers.” The court rejected the appeal,
    and significantly, stated that “commercial interests are subservient to fundamental rights.”

    Plachimada, Kerala

    The single largest Coca-Cola bottling plant in India, in Plachimada, Kerala, remains shut down
    since March 2004. Initially ordered to shut down until June 15 (for arrival of monsoon rains) by
    the state government to ease drought conditions, the Plachimada bottling plant has been unable to
    open because the local village council (panchayat) is REFUSING to reissue Coca-Cola a license
    to operate. The village council has maintained that the plant needs to shut down because it has
    destroyed the water system in the area as well as polluted the area.
    The panchayat is an elected body at the most local level in India, and forms the building block of
    democracy in India – Panchayat Raj- a model promoted extensively by Mahatma Gandhi. Coca-
    Cola, in typical fashion, has chosen to undermine democracy by appealing to the courts that the
    panchayat has no jurisdiction over the plant and Coca-Cola, and that it should be the state of
    Kerala that makes the decision. Coca-Cola’s efforts to undermine local governance is being
    followed closely as the court ruling in favor of the panchayat could set a significant precedence
    for local governance.
    The struggle in Plachimada is the oldest struggle against Coca-Cola in India and there has been a
    24/7 vigil directly in front of the factory gates since April 22, 2002. The struggle in Plachimada
    has also enjoyed significant victories. In December 2003, the High court, in an extremely
    significant decision, ruled that Coca-Cola HAD to seek alternative sources of water and that it
    could extract only as much water from the common groundwater resource as a farmer owning 34
    acres of land could. The justification being that the plant is located on 34 acres. Furthermore, the
    court held that the groundwater belonged to the people and the Government had no right to allow
    a private party to extract such a huge quantity of ground water which was “a property held by it in
    trust”.
    In another significant action in August, 2004, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB),
    acting upon a Supreme court order, directed the Coca-Cola company to ensure that water supply
    through pipeline is delivered to the houses of all the affected communities in the vicinity.
    While the various court and government agencies are validating and acting upon the community
    concerns, Coca-Cola is busy putting more money into a public relations strategy designed to
    convince everyone that they have nothing to do with the water scarcity and pollution in
    Plachimada and in India.

    Mehdiganj, Uttar Pradesh
    More so than other struggles against Coca-Cola in India, the communities in Mehdiganj, a
    village about 20 kms from the holy city of Varanasi, have more of an uphill battle because the
    local and state officials are turning a blind eye to the concerns of the communities.
    The water table has declined between 25-40 feet in the last four years, and Coca-Cola has been
    discharging its waste water into the surrounding fields, and now into a canal that feeds into the
    river Ganges, a holy river for millions of Indian. The landscape is very rural, and farming is the
    main source of livelihood in the area. Many farmers have yet to be compensated for the land that
    was taken from them in order to build the Coca-Cola bottling facility.
    The movement to shut down the Coca-Cola plant has been growing rapidly for the last year. In
    August 2003, community members entered the office of the Regional Pollution Control Board in
    Varanasi, and to protest their inaction, dumped sacks full of sludge from the Coca-Cola plant on
    the table of the regional officer. In September 2003, over 500 people marched to the Coca-Cola
    factory gates and were physically attacked and beaten by police and private security guards. In
    October 2003, a march was organized from the Coke plant in Mehdiganj to a Pepsi plant in
    Jaunpur, about 150 km away. And in mid-December 2003, ten activists went on a five-day hunger
    strike in front of the plant. They were supported by fifty people sitting with them each day, and
    about 300 people went on hunger strikes of varied duration. And in June 2004, hundreds
    conducted a sit-in in front of the state assembly in Lucknow.
    So far, not only have the authorities not cooperated at all, they have consistently refused to make
    good on their promises of inquiries and investigations to look into Coca-Cola’s practices that are
    depleting the groundwater and polluting the water and soil. In addition, the authorities have
    trumped up criminal charges against some of the key leaders of the struggle, and issued orders to
    these leaders preventing them from “shouting slogans or making inflammatory speeches …
    within 300 meters of the plant”.
    The communities are determined to close down the factory in Mehdiganj, and the local
    organizers have been extremely successful in garnering local support in the area. They have also
    organized the community around a new Coca-Cola plant in Balia, about 250 kms away. From
    November 15-24, 2004, a march will be conducted from the Coca-Cola factory gates in Balia to
    the Coca-Cola factory gates in Mehdiganj, demanding the closure of both the facilities.

    so it is a sincere request on my part to all of you…plz read more about this on the net, and explain this to as many people as possible…stop drinking the killer coke..!!!
  • Sooraj wrote on 27 November, 2005, 14:14

    thanks Swati for these interesting news about Coca Cola. It would be nice if you could provide us with the link where you found this article.

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